Everyone's situation is different, but there are some common things to consider when deciding how much life insurance you need and, particularly, whether the $400,000 maximum Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance is enough.
Put some thought into this important subject — don't wait until you're rushing to prepare for a deployment. Keep in mind that it's not a once-in-a-lifetime decision; you should periodically review your life insurance as your life and family situation changes.
A basic question to ask: Are there people who are financially dependent on you? That includes spouses and children, but some military people, including a number of single troops, provide financial support to parents, siblings or others.
There are also many other unique circumstances that need to be considered. For example, your mother may have co-signed for a student loan, or for a vehicle that you bought, or both. You're regularly making those payments now, but what would happen if you died?
Some life insurance calculators can help you assess your life insurance needs. The Veterans Affairs Department, which administers the SGLI program as well as the Veterans' Group Life Insurance program, among others, provides an insurance needs calculator at www.benefits.va.gov.
As of this writing, VA was upgrading that tool, so it was not available. But other calculators available at these sites: www.navymutual.org, www.aafmaa.com; www.prudential.com; www.usaa.com.
If your spouse or child planned to put your $400,000 worth of insurance in the bank and live off the interest, let's hope the interest rates will be higher by the time it's needed.
At the current national range of about 0.5 percent to 1 percent interest on money market savings accounts, $400,000 would return only about 2,000 to $4,000 a year. If rates rise to 5 percent, that would be about $20,000 a year in interest on a $400,000 nest egg.
If you have young children, consider those costs. According to the Agriculture Department, a middle-income family with a child born in 2013 can expect to spend about $245,340 to raise that child to age 18. That includes food, housing, child care and education — but not higher education costs.
If your spouse doesn't work, consider whether SGLI and government benefits such as Social Security income and Survivor Benefit Plan payments are enough to sustain your family. Consider all your current assets, and whether your spouse has an income.
Other factors:
• Financial obligations such as mortgages, car loans, credit card debt, personal loans, funeral and burial expenses, estate taxes and expenses.
• Children's college and other education expenses.
• Net income needed to support your survivors.
• Current assets, such as savings, bank accounts, investments, retirement and Social Security benefits.
It's always a good idea to discuss it with your family, but some people are very reluctant to talk about what is, admittedly, a difficult topic, said Navy Cmdr. Jack McVeigh, vice president for membership at Navy Mutual.
"My wife doesn't want to know how much insurance I have," McVeigh said. "She just wants to know she'll be taken care of."
And that's the key. If your family proves reluctant to discuss it, plow ahead on your own with your calculations and decisions, secure in the knowledge that it's all for their benefit.
Karen has covered military families, quality of life and consumer issues for Military Times for more than 30 years, and is co-author of a chapter on media coverage of military families in the book "A Battle Plan for Supporting Military Families." She previously worked for newspapers in Guam, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Fla., and Athens, Ga.
